Improvement in locks for drawers



L L. mus.

LOCKS FOR DRAWERS, 84c.

N o.174-,18'Z, Patented Feb Q 29, 1876.

WITNESSES. 1 llfalis.

NPETERS, PHOTO-LITHQGRAPHEH, WASHINGTON, D C.

LORING L. BATES, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN LOCKS FOR DRAWERS, &c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 174,182, dated February29, 1876; application filed November 27, L875.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, LORING L. BATES, of Boston, Suffolk county,Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Locksfor Drawers, &c., ofwhich the following is a specification This invention relates toimprovements in a class of locks for the drawers of safety-depositvaults, in which two keys of different forms or character are requisiteto operate the lock, one of whichis lodged in the hands of the custodianof the vaults, and is used to prepare the lock for being unlocked by theowner, while the other keyis in the possession of the owner, and is usedto unlock and lock the drawer in which the property of the owner isdeposited. .7

Hertofore this class of locks has been operated by means of two distincthubs and key-holes, disposed at some distance asunder. My improvementconsists in combiningin a lock of this character the bolt and the boltlocking or latching mechanism with a single rotating hub, through whicheach may be operated by its own key,'substantially as hereinafterdescribed.

The drawings accompanying'this specification represent in Figure] aninterior view of the lock; in Fig. 2, an interior view containing onlythe bolt andsafety-latch. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the lock,and Fig. 4 a

- posed against the back a of the case A, the- -notch in such bolt, bywhich the key-hub operates it, being shown at b, while the rear or innerend of said bolt is forked, as shown at e, for thepurposes hereinafterstated.

F in the drawings represents a latch, disposed at the rear part ofthecase A, and in a plane immediately above that in which the bolt E plays,a stud or stop, f, being affixed to the under side of .the said latch,to operate in connection with the fork e of the bolt, as well as withthe adjacentend of the latter.

The latch Fis forced in the direction of its arrow by a suitable spring,0, and when forced to its extreme position in one direction by theauxiliary key 1 against the stress of said spring, its stud f coincideswith the fork e of the bolt E, and permits the latter to be unlocked bythe primary key 2, while as the bolt is shot forward or locked by thekey 2 the latch is forced by itssprin g to its extreme in the oppositedirection, and its stud f abuts against the end of the bolt and preventsunlocking or retraction of the latter. r

The bits of the primary key 2 are shown at 13 t 2' and those of theauxiliary key 1 at la! k, &c., while the yielding-levers of the lock areshown at l 1, 8w.

The bolt is thrown by a bit, m, making part.

:endpasses through an axial bore, 0, of the hub (3,.with a close fit,the body of such keyhub being formed with a key-way, g.

To securely hold the latch F in position while the bolt is locked, Iemploy a tumbler, p, disposed within the case A and near to itscap-plate; this tumbler being pivoted at one end to a stud, q, andforced upward by a" spring, 1, against a stud, s, projecting laterallyoutward from the latch while to permit the'latch to be thrown to itsopposite extreme I form a notch, t, in the end of the said tumbler 1),into which the stud s can enter.

To throw the latch inward (supposing the bolt to be locked) and releasethe bolt, the auxiliary key 1 is inserted in the combined slots 9 of thekey-hub a and D of the hub O and turned backward, the result 'of whichmovement is that the bit w of said key first wipes against and raisesthe tumbler 19 until its notch t coincides with the stop s of the latchF, when the bit '5 of said key bears against a tooth, z, formed upon theupper edge of the latch F, and throws the latch inward and releases thebolt.

To hold the latch in the last-named position, and against the action ofits spring, I employ a catch-plate, a which,like the first, is pivotedUNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

to the stud q, and is forced downward by the" action of a spring, b andis formed with'a hooked notch, 0 in its end, which serves to lock thelatch.

The hook d of the notch 0 lies against the stud s, and as the latch.passes inward. and carries the hook beyond the stud, the catchplate a isthrown down by the action of its spring, and the hook passesbehindthestud. As the bolt is thrown inward by the action of the bit m of therotating key-hub, operated by the primary key 2, a stud, e, projectingoutward from the bolt E, wipes against a cam, f formed upon thecatch-plate ax and lifts the hook d from. behind the stud, and frees thelatch from such hook, so that when the bolt is thrown upward or inlocked position, and the stud 6 passes above the cam f of 'the'latch,the latter is fully released, and is thrown outward by the action of itsspring.

The operation of the above-described lock is as follows, supposing thebolt to' be at its extreme height, or locked, and both keysremoved, thekeyways D andg being in alignment, and constituting a passage for theauxiliary key 1:

To unlock the bolt, the key 1 is inserted and turned to the left orbackward, which in this case is-downward. The bit to wipes against theupper edge of thetumblerp, and forcesthe latter downward and freesthe'stud s of the latch from its hold, when the bit i'next bears againstthe tooth z of: the latch, and throws the latter inward, and carries itsstud f' into alignment with the fork e ofthe bolt, the hook d of thecatch plate a at the same time drop: ping, by, the action of the springof such catch plate, behind the stud s, as'before stated, and The key 1'locking the latch in this-position. is then returned to the position inwhich it entered the lock, and is removed. The primary key 2 is nowinserted in the combined keyways, and turned to the right untilthe'b'olt is lowered and unlocked. As the bolt describes the last-namedmovement,'its studeflwip against the. cam f of the catch-plate a andraises the hook (1 0f such plate from its hold of the stud s, and thelatch is left free to be thrown outward by its spring, when its stud fis released from the fork of the bolt as the latter is shot forward andlocked. The key 2 remains in the'lock', and cannot be withdrawn whilethe bolt is unlocked, as the outermost obit-of such key is covered bythe cap-plate of the lock. To look the bolt the key 2 is turned to theleft, and the bolt pushed outward, and as the bolt reaches its extremeoutward or lockedposit'ion it rises above the stud f of the latch, andthe latch thus freed from its restraint is shot outward by the action ofits spring, and its stud f rests behind the bolt and prevents itsretraction until removed by the keyl, as before stated.

I'claim- 1. The tumbler p and catch-plate 60*, in combination with thebolt E and latch F, substan tially as and for purposes stated. 7

2. The latch F, provided with the stud f to enter the fork e of the boltE, and with the stud ss-to operate in connection with the tumblerp andcatch-plate a and the tooth z to be operated upon by the key'l,substantially asand for the purposes stated.

3. In a lock in'which the bolt and the mechanism for latching or lookingthe same are operated each by its own key, as described, the

combination, substantially asset forth, of thesaid bolt, and mechanismfor latching or lookin g it in place, with a single rotating key-hub,adapted to receivein succession the operatingkeys, the-"saidbolt'latching or locking mechanism and bolt being arranged withreference to said hub substantially as specified, so that each insuccession may be operated by its own key through one and the same hub.

LORING L. BATES.

Witnesses: I

' F. CURTIS,

W. E. BOARDMAN.

